$100K to burn: Donation stokes $3.7 million Lawn fireplaces

Lawnie Matt Schrimper enjoyed one of the benefits of having a working fireplace during one of the big snow storms two winters ago.

File photo by Hawes Spencer

On a chilly fall day when the temperature barely cracked the 60-degree mark, University of Virginia officials announced that there's hope for the 106 chimneys of the hallowed Lawn and Range rooms, unceremoniously removed from service after an inspection revealed cracks in the nearly 200-year-old brick structures.

With a $100,000 gift from an alumnus, a fundraising campaign called "Keep the Fires Burning" kicked off October 19 in hopes of raising the estimated $3.7 million cost of repairing all the chimneys and installing something heretofore not seen in these historic chambers: a sprinkler system.

On Halloween, the smell of wood fires would ordinarily mix with the scents of glucose and artificial flavorings as hordes of children and parents enjoy trick-or-treating on the Lawn. However, a reporter's recent visit found not a single stick of firewood, something that would usually be stacked high along the colonnades of the so-called Academical Village this time of year.

18 comments

Geez, The Hook really does have a (insert crude slang term for male tumescence here) for UVA don't they?

Liberalace October 20th, 2011 | 2:55pm

I can see by this photo how much the University really cares about excessive alcohol consumption by its students. Next time a "Wahoo" deep-sixes on booze, we can just point to this picture as this Skakel-in-training and his giggling little blonde Stepford-'hoos stand amidst a gross of empty beer cans. Just what I want...a little preppy who never touched a fireplace in his life trying to manage one after a bender to celebrate a football victory!

Le sigh October 20th, 2011 | 3:13pm

Liberalace, the beercans you mention were collection passed down, some of them were practically antiques and several, if I remember correctly, were not beer cans, but soda. It was actually a neat decoration, seeing old cans from the fifties that his grandfather drank from.

I'm sure we all appreciate the scathing, unadulterated judgment though.

Edgar Poe October 20th, 2011 | 4:40pm

Don't forget mine

Austro October 20th, 2011 | 7:20pm

I can handle THE TRUTH!

HarryD October 20th, 2011 | 8:13pm

What a waste of perfectly good wood...............

Tim Brown October 21st, 2011 | 7:47am

deleted by moderator

Liberalace October 21st, 2011 | 9:09am

Le Sigh:
Figures we'd get someone with a French prefix in this town...Anyway, that Foster's jumbo can really looks like an antique from the '50s. What would someone say if a prize student had a display of roach clips on their mantle? And what chowderhead would place collectible, antique, paint-covered metal above and in front of a heat generator? Also, gramps must be real classy...I see a Carling Black Label in there.

I am just glad you agree with me on the vacuous bobbleheads warming the faux cold hands in front of the fire.

Go Hoos! Le Sigh, when is the Fourth Year Fifth this year? (Why don't they call it the Senior Cirrhosis Send-Off?)

Le sigh October 21st, 2011 | 9:28am

Because 100% of students participate in the fourth year fifth... Your gross, mildly hypocritical, over generalizations frankly do not merit discussion because you have obviously adopted such a vitriolic, rabid bias against 15000 individual students that if Jesus Christ himself were to enroll in this school and you were to meet him you would accuse him of the most heinous things in your hateful little mind.

downtown brown October 21st, 2011 | 9:33am

I wish there was a 'like' button for Le Sigh's last comment.

Laplace October 21st, 2011 | 9:50am

Liberalace seems pretty focused on the females in the picture. I guess I would be too, if I'd never touched a woman.

Alum October 21st, 2011 | 10:04am

I am glad that the college school is going to alow their students to keep warm in the winter. I do believe that a fire safety class should be mandatory for all UVA students. They are known for burning everything from old diapers to ping pong balls in those fireplaces.

If you believe in Jesus Christ, you should be capitalizing the "h," as in "Him." Perhaps you need to take one of those 8th-grade writing classes so popular with the UVa student-athletes.
The fact that you even made a serious comment with the term "fourth year fifth" in it speaks volumes...don't you have a William Kennedy Smith-in-training class to attend up in Nantucket?

old man October 24th, 2011 | 10:31am

I regret that as one of the financially less successful UVa grads in history ( I followed the Arts) , I cannot contribute at "fireplace level" in alum giving for this project (a campaign I predicted at the first story here). However i can give at poker level. As to the beer cans...uva students drinking?,I am shocked, shocked ...

non-resident taxpayer October 24th, 2011 | 1:28pm

I'm sure we all appreciate the scathing, unadulterated judgment though.

Oh, I thought it was the scathing bitterness of the envy of the oppressed yet righteous non-privileged (VT, JMU? Surely not W&M or W&L who look down their noses at UVa) leaking through...my bad.

Liberalace October 25th, 2011 | 4:14pm

I think UVa students living in those units should pool their money and buy prepared kindling wood from Huguely Building Materials up in Maryland. Since George will be free to help run daddy's business within a couple of years, the students of UVa can help him get off to a good start in the business world!